Installment # 3 of Diary of a madwoman, uh, I mean chef, in the throes of opening a restaurant...playing with food

As anyone who has worked on a long term project that includes the coordination of contractors, leasehold improvements, inspections and so on knows, there are times when there is nothing more that can be done but wait.  I have never been good at waiting so I use the time to write, scour the upstate for great deals on equipment like these recently purchased coolers, designing signs, banners and marketing brochures and my favorite pastime, of course, I cook.  

Yes, as you can see from the photo, we chose Clemson Tiger orange.  What else did you expect since we are in such close proximity to the champions of the 2012 Chick-fil-a bowl?  And besides, statistics prove that it is the color that stimulates the appetite the most.  Yum!!!

Recently there has been a lot of waiting, so I have done a lot of cooking, practicing and experimenting, refining, and standardizing recipes.  Those who benefit the most from this are friends and members of my household, my husband, and my loyal companion (not my husband, although he is also loyal) who at this moment lies under my desk, sleeping with his wet, black nose warm against my bare skin and soaking my flip flop. 

One of the biggest perks of opening a new restaurant is free food---no joke.  Vendors competing for your business will gladly provide samples, and for me, that means I get to play with my food.  Since Beyond the Bull is an eat smart kitchen, and avoids the use of highly inflammatory foods that include anything prepackaged, added fats, sugar, table salt and refined grains, as well as many of the most popular proteins including beef and pork, I get to play with alternative proteins like rabbit, duck, bison, venison, and organ meats.  Thanks to Maple Leaf Farms, the producer of the finest duck products in the U.S., I now have a freezer full of duck sausage, ground duck, duck patties and slow roasted pulled duck.  But, no foie gras!  For those of you who are new to my blog, read my article Corn Fed America to find out why.  After weeks of practice, my favorite duck recipes and those that will appear on the menu are Moroccan Pulled Duck and Duck Cakes Caramel.  The first is a blend of slow roasted leg and thigh meat, Moroccan spices, raisins and green olives with paper thin slices of lemon, and the latter a cake (a thick patty) of ground duck, balsamic caramelized onion, cilantro and Latin spices, crispy brown on the outside, juicy and sweet in the middle.  I am currently waiting for samples of Bison for osso bucco and rabbit for Dad’s Rabbit Stew.  In the meantime, since today is my birthday, I’m allowing my husband to spoil me and do all the cooking!

Buon Appetito e Buona Salute, Chef AngelaB.

                                                            

P.S. to the sheetrocker and tiler, I am still waiting!